Commissioners get earful from residents on biomass plant

Too risky. Citizens recited that concern again and again at Tuesday's Alachua County Commission meeting on the incoming biomass plant.

By Morgan WatkinsStaff writer

Too risky.Citizens recited that concern again and again at Tuesday’s Alachua County Commission meeting on the incoming biomass plant.The commission held the meeting not to take action on the issue, but to provide a public forum for residents — about 60 of whom attended — to hear from Gainesville Regional Utilities staff and offer their input. Commissioner Susan Baird pushed for the meeting because some GRU ratepayers live in unincorporated Alachua County.The 100-megawatt biomass plant, known as the Gainesville Renewable Energy Center, will come online in late 2013 and will be owned and operated by the private firm American Renewables. The Gainesville City Commission has a 30-year contract to buy all its electricity. It approved the biomass project in 2009.Commissioner Mike Byerly, substituting as chair for Commissioner Paula DeLaney who was out sick, handed off the gavel to Commissioner Lee Pinkoson after the board voted to allow two 15-minute, anti-biomass citizen presentations while holding other people, including plant supporters, to the typical five-minute limit because he considered it “unethical.”Darin Cook, CEO of Gainesville-based Infinite Energy, gave one of those presentations. He said the city commission took several risks when it approved the plant in 2009, including that the price of natural gas — an alternative energy option — would stay high. It hasn’t.“It seems to me that we’re doubling down on our risk,” he said.Cook said GRU should have locked in contracts to purchase the plant’s excess power before committing to the project because the utility is now struggling to find takers.GRU General Manager Bob Hunzinger said during a two-hour presentation that GRU is pursuing potential buyers, with entities like the University of Florida expressing interest, but has had proposals in Mount Dora and New Smyrna Beach collapse.The expected jump in GRU rates was a key concern among residents at the meeting.GRU staff expect the monthly bill for an average-use residential customer to increase by $10.56 when the plant is operational, Hunzinger said.In 2014, a typical electric customer’s bill would likely increase 8.22 percent from a typical 2013 bill of $127.67 to $138.17, according to the presentation. But in 2015, it would increase only 2.17 percent and increases through 2020 would remain under 3 percent.Gainesville Mayor Craig Lowe spoke before Hunzinger’s presentation, emphasizing that GRU ratepayers in the unincorporated county, although unable to vote in City Commission races, have the same opportunities to interact with GRU staff and city commissioners as Gainesville residents.Hunzinger highlighted the benefits of biomass during his presentation.The plant would reduce GRU’s reliance on out-of-state fuel sources because utility staff estimate an increase in local sources from 1.2 percent in 2010 to 39.6 percent in 2015, according to the presentation.The plant would lead to the creation of 700 jobs in the region, a $5.7 million net annual increase to the local tax base and a shift of $31 million from getting shipped out-of-state to circulating within the regional economy, according to the presentation.Hunzinger said the biomass option wouldn’t offer the lowest rates but would provide the lowest overall cost to the community when factors like environmental stewardship and job creation are considered.Although most residents at the meeting opposed the biomass plant, a few spoke up in support of it.Rob Brinkman, an unincorporated county resident, said the biomass plant would prove a more stable option in the long run because it is a renewable energy source.“It literally grows on trees,” he said.Richard Schroeder, president of BioResource Management, said he applauded GRU and the Gainesville City Commission for taking on the significant challenge of developing such a long-term project. His company will procure wood for the plant.“The future and the outlook of this project is still strong,” he said.Barry Moline, executive director of the Florida Municipal Electric Association, which represents public power communities like Gainesville and other municipal utilities, said new power plants often seem like a bad idea at first but redeem themselves over time.Pinkoson later asked Hunzinger to answer a few questions raised by Gainesville resident and former Mayor W.E. “Mac” McEachern at the podium. Hunzinger seemed reluctant at first, saying the meeting had gone differently than the county led GRU to expect.Pinkoson said, “I don’t think there should be a confrontation about answering questions.”Hunzinger gave answers, but McEachern wasn’t satisfied with what he heard or Hunzinger’s earlier presentation, calling it “pure fluff” that didn’t answer residents’ real questions.Contact Morgan Watkins at 352-338-3104 or morgan.watkins@gvillesun.com.

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